Wallyhood reader Tracy dropped us a to let us know she wrote to Bill the Butcher, asking the same question. Here’s the reply:
Tracy,
Our current estimate is Spring. I wish I could nail it down more than that but there are too many moving parts to forecast accurately. We are expecting an influx of investor capital very shortly and that will determine how quickly we can open.
Once we have a date forecasted I’ll let you know and thanks for the interest. Hopefully we’ll be in the neighborhood soon.Alan
Tracy adds, “Sigh, I might as well go ahead and order beef from my Eastern WA rancher friends, as usual. Wish it were more local to our neighborhood.”
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Bill the Butcher is the butchery that was selling non-organic meat as “organic.” I think I will pass.
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/mystery-meat/Content?oid=4040872
Heh.. I was about to post a link to that, myself!
Wow, thanks for that information. If Bill the Butcher can explain how he’s changed his practices–to being more transparent and honest–I’d happily support him and welcome him to the neighborhood.
A few months ago, when I saw that Bill the Butcher is coming to our neighborhood, I remembered the Stranger story again. As it would be hard to believe a business wouldn’t make changes after being in the press so negatively, I wrote Bill the Butcher back in November asking for their reaction to the Stranger article. Here’s part of the response:
“The story did uncover some issues in the shops with training and we attributed that to how quickly we expanded and how new some of our employees were. Since then we’ve had multiple training lessons and meetings to go over the products we offer to ensure the employees were familiar with our products. We’ve also redone our in-store signage to make sure everything was crystal clear and we added the farm books to display our ranches and farms that we partner with to make Bill the Butcher possible. We also clarified our mission online with http://billthebutcher.com/Meat_Standards.html providing an overview of the different classifications of our products.”
I don’t think they will ever open. It’s odd that a butcher would need venture capital.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/07/28/bill-the-butcher-the-lawsuit-with-jamy-owens-response
BTB’s latest financial report. Adios Bill:
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/120123/bilb.ob10-q.html
They went from one store to 9 in less than 24 months? ..and haven’t ever turned a profit?
However J’Amy is a motivational speaker:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Investment-Conferences-Such-iw-3439943034.html?x=0
Check out Bunchgrass Beef, they are a family ranch out of Okanagan and some of the family lives in Tangletown. I have been ordering quarter cows from them for three years. http://www.bunchgrassbeef.com/Welcome.html. The beef is unlike anything you can buy at QFC, Whole Foods, or anywhere else I have found in town. And its cheaper too.
I don’t think you’ll get beef that’s much more local to the neighborhood than eastern Washington. Very few cattle grazing in backyards round these parts.
Fruitbat: We have chickens in Wallingford, and I know at least one house with a goat. It’s just a matter of time before we get some free-range cattle. Fresh milk to go with our local honey and eggs!
I’m not sure if there are yards large enough in Wallingford to make it legitimate to call cattle stationed there “free-range.”
Yes, I know there are chickens and goats (a source of fresh milk!) around. My point was that in terms of localvore practice, buying meat from the rancher in eastern Washington is as local as it will get. There won’t be beef raised much closer, and buying from the rancher is more direct. Perhaps Tracy meant that she just wanted the convenience of a local butcher, but I didn’t read it that way.
I would enjoy seeing a nice roundup along, say, N 40th, headin’ them dogies down to Stone Way.